


Holiday

by yankeetooter



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Bingo, Fluff, M/M, St. Patrick's Day, Traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 09:28:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yankeetooter/pseuds/yankeetooter
Summary: Boris and Valery have defected and now live in Boston, Massachusetts.  In an effort to fit in, Boris decides the two should embrace the upcoming holiday, with all of its traditions.(work submitted as part of the Chernobyl Bingo challenge)
Relationships: Valery Legasov/Boris Shcherbina
Kudos: 13
Collections: Chernobyl Bingo 2021





	Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> In the U.S., we celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th, and there are all sorts of traditions associated with the holiday, as the reader will find out...

Valery trudged through the door, tired from his day at work. He had been excited to find a job teaching at MIT so soon after he and Boris had moved to Boston but the days were long. By the time he walked the fifteen minutes home from the university, he was usually ready to collapse.

Fortunately, Boris was not working anywhere and put every effort into making their home a welcome respite Valery's long days. He cooked every night (which, given Valery's cooking, was a real blessing), did the shopping, kept their apartment reasonably tidy (despite Valery's talent of cluttering it up again in no time), and made sure that when Valery got home he didn't have to do anything but relax.

The first thing Valery noticed when he entered their apartment was Sasha sitting by the door to greet him, which she never failed to do. But today she was adorned with a pretty green ribbon around her neck.

_That's odd. Boris has grown very fond of Sasha, but he's not the sort to dress her up._

But the next moment brought an even bigger surprise as Boris came out of the bedroom. The former apparatchik was sporting a very unBoris-like bright, green tie.

Valery gaped at his love, then turned back to Sasha. "Boris, whatever is going on? Are you color coordinating your suits with Sasha now?"

Boris gave a hearty laugh, and enveloped Valery's cheeks in his large hands. "No, Valera, nothing so silly! Today in Boston they are celebrating something called St. Patrick's Day. I've been reading up on all these traditions, you know, so that we won't seem so conspicuous. Come, we're going out to celebrate tonight, just like this Patrick fellow."

"What? Boris, I'm exhausted. And I have work again in the morning. You go if you want, but I'm going to have a quiet dinner, read a bit and then turn in early."

But Boris, as usual, would not be deterred. Taking Valery's briefcase and putting it aside, he grabbed Valery's arm in his and headed out the door. 

"The change will do you good, Valera. You're too serious lately, and you've been working too hard. When we were staying in Vienna, you went out with me almost every night. Now, you'd think you had another nuclear disaster to clean up."

And so, Boris dragged Valery through the town, although after a while, even Valery found himself being infected by the party atmosphere. Everyone they ran into was wearing green, most of them fully dressed in it as opposed to Boris' modest tie. Sparkly green top hats were common, and many people had shamrocks painted on their faces.

"Ah! Just what I've been looking for," Boris declared, heading into a local pub. "Now for dinner and some drinking." 

Valery brightened up at the mention of dinner, although when they were served the pub's special, he sat looking at the unfamiliar fare for a few moments.

"Boris, what is this? I recognize the cabbage of course..."

Valery turned toward Boris and gasped in alarm. Boris was just lifting some sort of beverage to his mouth, something with an alarming, glowing shade of green. Acting on sheer reflex, Valery swung his arm and knocked the drink out of Boris' hand and onto the floor. The crowd suddenly went quiet at the sudden commotion.

Aware that he had become the center of attention, Valery leaned in close and whispered to Boris. "Are you crazy? That drink looked radioactive!"

Boris roared with laughter. "It's okay," he addressed the onlookers, "my friend has had a little too much to drink."

Satisfied, the other patrons turned back to their own meals. Every year there were always a few poor saps who couldn't hold their liquor and ended up making a spectacle of themselves.

Valery was still looking very alarmed at the green substance now spread all over the floor, so Boris pulled him close. "Valera, that drink that you so messily disposed of is not radioactive. It's a local custom - green beer. It's actually really good. Try some!"

Valery relented, and soon found that the green beer was exceptionally good for quenching one's thirst from the salty meal of corn beef. In fact, he quenched his thirst quite a bit during dinner, and kept quenching it after that.

Boris noticed his friend getting more and more red-faced. "Come on, Valera, let's get some fresh air."

Out in the parking lot, an impromptu group of people were doing a vigorous Irish jig. Boris dragged a protesting and very tipsy Valery over to the crowd, clearly determined to try out the dance.

"Borish...Borga, do you thinks thish is a good idea?" A large belch escaped from Valery's mouth as he endeavored to stand up straight. "You know I'm clumshy, Borish."

"Nonsense, Valera, it will be fun!"

The jig was beyond Valery, who had to hang on Boris' arms to keep from tripping over his feet. And then came the Irish reel. Boris spun Valery around and around over his weak protests, when suddenly Valery pulled out of Boris' arms and headed for a nearby gutter. His face was as green as any costume displayed that night, and pretty soon corn beef, cabbage and green beer had all exited his body.

Boris knelt with his arms around Valery, supporting him while he recovered, and putting his cool hands on Valery's forehead and the back of his neck.

"There, there, Valera, it's my fault. I should never have taken you dancing when I know you aren't used to drinking a lot."

Valery, feeling much better (and much more sober), leaned into Boris' embrace, and the two of them sat together for the rest of the warm spring evening, enjoying the dancing and the general party atmosphere of the crowd from the safety of the curb. 

One bit of mischief puzzled Valery greatly. He and Boris looked on as a set of three or four people chased another person around, pinching them playfully while the "victim" protested and laughed as he tried to get away.

Boris could only shrug at Valery's quizzical look, then brightened as he caught a few snippets of conversation. "Ah! Apparently, their friend isn't wearing any green, and tradition says that if you're not wearing green, people come up and pinch you."

_But I'm not wearing any green! Does that mean?_

The next moment, Valery dissolved into giggles as Boris' large hands came towards him. "Boris! Don't you dare! Boris!"

Boris held Valery with one arm while he playfully pinched Valery all over, finally pulling him off the curb to dispense a few well-placed pinches to Valery's plump ass.

"Okay, I give up! Boris, I give up!"

When Valery's giggles subsided, Boris smiled triumphantly and marched off to a street vendor. Moments later he returned with a sparkly green top hat and presented it to Valery.

"Boris? Surely you don't expect me to wear that?" But Valery quickly clamped the hat down on his head even as Boris mimed pinching him again.

"That's better, Valera," Boris laughed. "Now you truly fit in!"

\-----------------

Around midnight, Boris and Valery stumbled through the door of their apartment, both still a bit drunk and quite ecstatic with the evening's festivities.

Boris turned his back to Valery a moment, then spun around with something pinned to his lapel. "There's one more tradition we haven't observed, Valera!"

Valery had long since put his glasses in his suitcoat to protect them, and now he squinted at the pin Boris was sporting.

"Kiss me...I'm Irish? Boris, that doesn't make sense! I know you're Ukrainian through and through, so why..."

Boris silenced Valery with an intense kiss, then dragged him toward the bedroom.

The End...and Happy St. Patrick's Day!


End file.
